Armenian conference criticizes Turkey in run-up to April 24


Friday, April 23, 2010

YEREVAN, Vercihan Ziflioğlu - Hürriyet Daily News

Turkey did not succeed at driving a wedge between the Armenian state and its diaspora when the two countries signed diplomatic protocols last October, according to an Armenian minister.

“When Turkey established diplomatic connections with Armenia, they thought that the diaspora would be left outside alone,” Diaspora Minister Hranush Hakobian said this past week during the “International Cultural Genocide Conference” at the city’s Genocide Museum.

“[Turkey] tried to come between the diaspora and Armenia, but in vain. All Armenians in the world are one and together, they will never give up on each other,” he said during his speech.

Many foreign guests were expected to attend the conference, which comes in the run-up to April 24, the day Armenians commemorate the deaths of their ancestors during World War I, but were prevented from doing so due to the presence of volcanic ash across Europe that grounded many flights.

The minister also said the country would do all it takes to make sure the entire world recognizes Armenian genocide claims. Armenia claims up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed shortly after World War I under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Yerevan insists the events constituted genocide, but Turkey fiercely rejects the label, saying civil strife caused many deaths on both sides.

Hakobian also accused Turkey of destroying over 2,000 Armenian cultural artifacts in the aftermath of 1915.

At the conference, 15 experts presented papers on different topics, almost all of which were on the Armenian cultural wealth destroyed in Turkey. One of the key topics was Turkey’s Tourism and Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay’s declaration that the historical Surp Haç Armenian church on Akdamar Island in Van would be allowed to hold services once a year.

Participants, however, branded the effort as simply a “political maneuver.”

“They are employing political manipulation and trying to deceive the world,” said Hayk Demoyan, head of the Genocide Museum. “It was only last year when the graveyards at the Ani ruins in Kars were destroyed.”

On the same day of the conference, an exhibition on the events of 1915 was opened by the Dashnak Party at Moscow Cinema Square, one of the most frequented quarters of Yerevan. Meanwhile, an exhibition on the media coverage of the 1915 events was also opened Thursday at the museum.